Keywords:

God, light

Description of this motif: The divine, the heavenly and God himself are related to light

Example :

All the clouds gathered and rose together, forming what appeared to be whole mountains; they pushed through the air and spread out over the entire countryside as far as the Dryad could see. They were heaped in mighty, rocklike, thundery-blue masses, layer on layer, high into the air. Then flashes of light shot out from them. "These are also the servants of God our Master," the old pastor had said. And then out flashed a bluish, blinding light, a blaze of lightning, which tried to rival the sun itself; it shattered the piled-up clouds.

The lightning struck down, down at the mighty old oak tree, splitting it to its very roots; the crown was shattered, the trunk torn apart. The tree crashed down and fell as if spreading itself out to receive the messenger of light. Not even the mightiest cannon could roar through the air and over the land at the birth of a king's son as did the thunder in saluting the passing of the old oak tree.

Comment on this quote: The oak tree is a tree of tradition. It grows slowly and steadily. The chestnut grows faster, and speed is a virtue of the modern times. The dryad's departure from the calm and traditional harmony of the village is predicted and marked by the death of the oak tree. It is connected with a new beginning (to the end!); "the messenger of light" speaks of something, that is similar with "the birth of a king's son".